Former West Ham United boss Alan Pardew is sorry to see Dean Ashton forced to retire at 26.

Pardew, who signed Ashton for West Ham in a club record £7.25m deal, said yesterday: "It's a very sad day for Dean. He was some striker, a real centre forward."

Pardew, now Southampton manager, added: "When he came to West Ham, he wasn't in the best physical shape, but he worked hard, got himself fit and then almost won the FA Cup Final for us against Liverpool.

"We then signed Carlos Tevez to play with Dean, but they didn't play together once. It was a real blow, because he was injured on England duty and then we had a difficult season.

"I always felt, if Dean had stayed fit, I would have stayed at West Ham. I'm sorry it's come to this, because I had a lot of time for him. He had a lot of quality about him."